Dear colleagues, The Digital Technology for Democracy Lab is pleased to announce the seventh session of the Gender & Tech Online Talk Series, scheduled for January 27, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. (EST). The “Dis/Misinformation and Political Extremism” talk will explore the role of digital technologies in the crisis of trust in democracy and institutions worldwide. The focus is on the rise of an organized global far-right and the weaponization of information at scale to produce harm to democracy and public institutions, with special attention to Global Majority regions. Speakers can also discuss the possibilities of recreating narratives about free speech and human rights protection in the age of datafication. Some issues we hope to address include the current trends in the dis/misinformation field, the role of informality and social inequalities in these trends, the main challenges in tackling online harms, and public policy interventions that represent best practices in addressing dis/misinformation online. We are honoured to welcome two keynote speakers: Rosana Pinheiro-Machado (University College Dublin) Robyn Caplan (Duke University) The webinar is free and open to the public. You can register here: https://dtdlab.virginia.edu/event/gender-tech-dis-misinformation-political-e... The Gender and Tech Online Talk Series brings together leading scholars, advocates, and practitioners to examine the intersections of gender, technology, democracy, and human rights. Its purpose is to critically explore how digital platforms and technological infrastructures impact women, queer, and gender-diverse individuals, while also identifying pathways toward more inclusive, rights-based models of digital governance. We invite everyone interested in advancing equity and justice in tech governance to participate in this important conversation. The series is co-organized by Yasmin Curzi and Jess Reia and is sponsored by the UVA DTD Lab. Please feel free to share this announcement. Thank you! Jess and Yasmin *Jess Reia, Ph.D. (they/them)* Andrew Carnegie Fellow <https://www.carnegie.org/awards/honoree/jess-reia/> Assistant Professor of Data Science Faculty co-lead, Digital Technology for Democracy Lab <https://karshinstitute.virginia.edu/digital-technology-democracy-lab>, University of Virginia Visiting Scholar, Institute for Global Public Policy <https://igpp.fudan.edu.cn/igppen/main.htm>, Fudan University 2024-2025 Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Democracy & Technology <https://cdt.org/> <https://karshinstitute.virginia.edu/> New book: Urban Music Governance <https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/U/bo245009492.html> <https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/U/bo245009492.html> reia@virginia.edu | https://datascience.virginia.edu/